HS 853 
.5 

.A35 
'opy 1 



^mortal Service 

JR USE BY CHAPTERS OP THE 
ORDER OP THE 

EASTERN STAR 




PRICE 35 CENTS 

Written and Arranged by 

HELEN E. C. BALMER 
. (P. W.G.M. of Michigan) 
Lansing - Michigan 



C1A572045 



APR 28 1320 



A AEAVORIAL SERVICE 

CONDUCTED BY 
TWELVE LADIES 



They enter the room bearing flowers, sing- 
ing "Abide With Me," pass to the rear of the 
altar, forming a semi-circle on the west side 
of the altar. 

The line of march is as follows: 



Marshal 




Numbers 1 and 2 




Numbers 3 and 4 




Numbers 5 and 6 




Numbers 7 and 8 




Singer 




Chaplain and Chairman. 


The service: 




Prayer All kneeling 


Addresses. 




ARRANGEMENT 




E 




1 


2 


3 


4 


1 A| 

9 

11 13 12 


6 
8 
10 



(11 Chaplain) (12 Chairman) (13 Marshal) 



PRAYER 

Chaplain — 

Our Father and our God, we come 

In thankfulness and prayer, 
For all the blessings of this life, 

And for Thy loving care. 

We thank Thee for the friends we've known 
Whose love made life so bright, 

And pleadingly we ask that Thou 
Wilt guide our steps aright. 

Help us to know, though shadows fall, 

And sorrows cloud our way, 
Thy loving care keeps watch o'er all, 

And guides us all the way. 

Help us to live so near to Thee, 
That when life's day shall close, 

We'll hear, at last, Thy Welcome Home, 
To rest from all life's woes. 



First: 

In this glad hour when all is cheer, 

As we again assemble here, 

It seems but just and fitting now, 
That we should here in reverence bow, 

And to the memory of our dead 

Let loving words be kindly said. 

Though sorrowing, these hearts of ours 
Our tribute bring — earth's fairest flowers. 
In memory of — 

Second: 

A blessed privilege is mine 

To join my sisters at this time, 

To bring these flowers. They teach us 
faith 

To look e'en past the gates of Death, 

—2— 



And know the loved ones gone before 

Are safe at rest, life's journey o'er. 

Though ours the loss, their's the gain, 
But ours the faith, we'll meet again, 

A faith that nothing can destroy, 

A hope in future peace and joy. 
In Memory of — 

Numbers i and 2 will pass INSIDE) the SEMI-CIRCLE 
to opposite stations, passing each other back of the 
altar, deliver their charge, deposit flowers and re- 
turn to stations OUTSIDE semi-circle. 

Third: 

Sad are the homes where death has entered, 
And sad are the hearts of the dwellers 
there, 
But mid all the pain and suffering and sorrow, 

Over it all is God's loving care. 
And so we come with a sympathy tender, 

For all the sorrowing hearts that mourn, 
And with these, our sisters, unite in bringing 
Our tribute of love to the dear ones gone. 
In Memory of — 

Fourth: 

When we shall have crossed the Great Divide, 

And safely passed to the other shore, 
How joyful and glad will the meeting be, 
With those whom we loved in the days of 
yore. 
With those who mourn for their loved and 
lost, 
For those whom they held in their hearts 
so dear, 
With a sympathy deep for those sorrowing 
ones, 
We tenderly place our offering here. 
In Memory of — 

Numbers 3 and 4 will follow the same line of march 
as numbers 1 and 2, taking position at head of the 
line and moving inside of the semi-circle at the same 
time that Nos. 1 and 2 move outside the semi-circle. 

—3— 



Fifth: 

Our tribute of love and remembrance, 

To our Sisters and Brothers we give. 
To those who have finished life's journey 

Whose lives have taught us how to live. 
But a loving Father has called them 

From their labors on earth to that rest 
That awaits, at the last, all the faithful, 

In that beautiful home of the blest. 
As a mark of our love and affection 

For these Sisters and Brothers of ours, 
We, here, would present, as our offering, 

This garland of earth's fairest flowers. 
In Memory of — 

Sixth: 

Again we bring our offering fair 

And join with you today, 
In sympathy for those who mourn 

For loved ones passed away. 
With them life's lessons all are learned 

And all its duties done, 
They've answered to the Master's call 

That bade them "Welcome Home." 
Here in our work, our prayers and songs, 

No more their voices raise; 
We trust that in the angelic choir 

They're singing songs of praise. 
In Memory of — 

Numbers 5 and 6 will follow the same line of march 
as numbers 1 and 2, taking position at head of the 
line and moving inside of the semi-circle at the same 
time that Nos. 3 and 4 move outside the semi-circle. 

Seventh: 

In the days to come, be they many or few, 
When the day draws near its close, 

And Memory carries us back o'er the past, 
Reviewing life's pleasures and woes, 

—4— 



May the memory sweet of the hours past and 
gone, 
Be the treasure that is dearest by far, 
When together we worked for the cause dear 
to all, 
The Order of the Eastern Star. 
So in loving remembrance we place here 
these flowers, 
In memory of those we loved best, 
With a faith in the promise, when our life is 
o'er 
We'll meeth them, and greet them, forever 
at rest. 
In Memory of — 

Eighth: 

'Tis but a wish, a thought, a prayer, 

That when life's journey's done, 
When all its battles have been fought, 

And the last great victory won, 
May there be waiting on the shore 

Of that better, brighter land, 
Those who have crossed death's dark sea 
o'er — 

The faithful of our band. 
Though we have missed them day by day, 

Since they entered into rest, 
'Tis ours, though with a sorrowing heart, 

To say, "God knowest best." 
In Memory of — 

Numbers 7 and 8 will follow the same line of march 
as numbers 1 and 2, taking position at head of the 
line and moving inside of the semi-circle at the 
same time that Nos. 5 and 6 move outside the semi- 
circle. 

Following the addresses the Chairman, 
Chaplain, Singer and Marshal deposit flowers, 
after which the line marches out two by two 
singing "Gathering Home." 

—5— 



LIFE'S JOURNEY. 

(To be used by Chairman when so desired) 

This life here is ofttimes a hard wearisome 
journey, 
And its boundry limited by cradle and 
grave, 
But, midst its joys and its sorrows, its pains 
and its pleasures, 
Over all, there is "One who is mighty to 
save." 

Down the long rugged pathway of life, we 
are traveling, 
In our search lor the happiness we all 
hope to find; 
All around and about are our sisters and 
brothers, 
Who are hastening on, the same purpose 
in mind. 

There are some who have just begun the 
long journey, 
Full of Hope, and of strength, and the 
courage of youth, 
Who, untried in the hard bitter school of 
experience, 
Must yet learn to discern between false- 
hood and truth. 

There are others who've wandered so long 
on the journey, 
That their step has grown feeble, and eye 
become dim, 
But, though weary and fainting, they're still 
pressing forward, 
With a faith in the promise, that at last 
we shall win. 

—6— 



Thus the days come and go, till one falls by 
the wayside, 
With his burden too heavy to be longer 
borne, 
Then we pause for a moment, mid tears and 
in sadness, 
We lay him to rest, and our journey 
resume. 

But the storms rage about, and the clouds 
break above us, 
And the blasts of the tempest in fury 
sweep by, 
Until one and another are borne from our 
presence, 
And dismayed, we soon learn that our 
loved ones must die. 

Then we peer through the darkness, across 
the great chasm, 
Just to catch for a moment, a glimpse of 
that land, 
Where, we're told, that the friends who have 
left us have journeyed, 
And are waiting our coming, with welcom- 
ing hand. 

As we near the dark river, and hear through 
the stillness, 
The clear call of the boatman, and the 
splash of his oar, 
We shall hear above all, strains of music 
celestial, 
And a welcoming hymn from that far away 
shore. 

Thus in loving remembrance, we place here 
these blossoms, 
In memory of those whom we have loved 
best, 

—7— 



With a faith in the promise, when Our 
Journey is ended, 
We shall meet them, and greet them, in 
"the Land of the Blest." 

May it be yours and mine, my Sisters and 
Brothers, 
When our work here together on earth 
shall be done, 
And our long toilsome journey on earth shall 
have ended, 
To hear at the last, Well Done, — Welcome 
Home. 



SUGGESTIONS. 

1. In memory of those who have passed 
to the Great Beyond, from the Subordinate 
Chapters. 

2. In loving remembrance of Present or 
Past Grand Officers. 

3. With tender and sincere sympathy for 
all the sorrowing ones of earth. 

4. In true fraternal sympathy for the 
loved and lost of our Sister Grand Juris- 
dictions. 

5. In memory of those who sleep in 
Flanders Fields. 



-8— 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




027 292 630 A 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 






027 292 630 A i 



